"Unless he just found the body and is coming to tell the sheriff." Romon grins thinking he's made a clever point. Then he thinks a little more, "No, you're right. He'd still lead us to the Sheriff eventually, every guardsman in town is going to come to this racket."
"Take us to the killer" Inikai tells the man.
"At the sawmill" the man gasps pointing in the direction of the building in question.."oh ..oh..the humanity...so much blood"
It's fairly obvious this fellow is in shock. People are beginning to gather and the Sherrif exits the building.
"You're back...looks like you came just at the right time too.." he directs his men to control the crowd and then motions for you to follow him
""Sorry if it seems like I'm using you but you've proven yourselves and most of my men are not used to more than breaking up fights between drunken farmboys and fishermen"
Naria although only having just joined the group decides to follow the sheriff.
Romon follows along, amused at apparently being part of the local police.
"For a small town this place seems to have some of the worse parts of civilization contained within." Muchorak follows the Sheriff to the scene.
The Sandpoint Lumber Mill lies on the shore of the Turandarok River. A sizeable crowd has gathered outside by the time you arrive and the Sherrif posts groups of nervous-looking town guards at the mill’s entrances
The mill is a well-built wooden structure with very thick walls. The roof is of wooden shingles, and doors are simple timber and unlocked.
The mill interior is coated with sawdust strewn with footprints and splashes of blooda desperate struggle took place here several hours ago.
A womans mangled,ruined remains lie on the mill’s lower floor amid heaps of bloodstained firewood.It soon becomes clear that she was pushed into the water-wheel powered log splitter.
Affixed to the wall by several hooks normally used to hang machinery is a man. The body is mutilated, the face carved away and lower jaw missing entirely. His bare chest is defaced as well, bearing a strange rune in the shape of a seven-pointed star,the Sihedron Rune familiar to all off you
A handaxe is embedded in the floor near the log splitter, as if it had been dropped there. The handle is covered with bloody finger-marks
Naria takes a deep breath and trying to convince herself that being in a murder scene is not all that diffrent from investigating an old monument steps into the mill.
|
Disquieted by the disrespect shown to the bodies of the dead, Marak turns to gaze instead upon the crowd. Muttering an invocation to Nethys, to 'steady his nerves,' he calls upon the arcane wisdom of Nethys to sharpen his senses. He expects to see horror, outrage and morbid curiosity, and is interested to see if any other reactions are present, such as grim admiration, or a smug sense of satisfaction...
The saw mill...all those blades in narrow quarters...if it is an ambush...Inikai's thoughts are violently cast aside when he sees the interior of the mill and the gruesome scene within.
"What madness has taken hold in this town? This does not look like something goblins do; their murders seem less ..."
he is clearly lost for words.
"Sheriff, who were these people? Did they have conflicts with folk in town?"
Naria does her best to apply her archelogical skills to invetsigating
Knowledge checks
Arcana
History
Engineering
Perception
Disquieted by the disrespect shown to the bodies of the dead, Marak turns to gaze instead upon the crowd. Muttering an invocation to Nethys, to 'steady his nerves,' he calls upon the arcane wisdom of Nethys to sharpen his senses. He expects to see horror, outrage and morbid curiosity, and is interested to see if any other reactions are present, such as grim admiration, or a smug sense of satisfaction...
1d20+10
Naria takes a deep breath and trying to convince herself that being in a murder scene is not all that diffrent from investigating an old monument steps into the mill.
Marak:
The feeling of the crowd is what you'd expect overlaid with a certain amount of "what's he using them for" with regard to yourselves.
Naria..
Nothing leaps out in your mind about this place..the tracks are confused and manyfold..there was certainly a fight before these people died.
The Sherrif studies the bodies with Shoanti stoicism.To Inikai's question he merely answers.."let us inspect the bodies and see if we can determine who" He turns to Muchorak.."Perhaps your skill in tracking can assist us here"
Marak:
The feeling of the crowd is what you'd expect overlaid with a certain amount of "what's he using them for" with regard to yourselves.
Naria..
Nothing leaps out in your mind about this place..the tracks are confused and manyfold..there was certainly a fight before these people died.
The Sherrif studies the bodies with Shoanti stoicism.To Inikai's question he merely answers.."let us inspect the bodies and see if we can determine who" He turns to Muchorak.."Perhaps your skill in tracking can assist us here"
Muchorak takes in the scene, "Even beasts are not this cruel." he pauses letting the statement sink in, nodding to the Sherriff he begins to look around for tracks or signs of entry into the mill other than what has been made by them and the gaurds...a daunting task no doubt.
Wellard
There are three distinct sets of tracks.A large pair of workboots..obviously the mans..a second smaller set which are, again quite obviously, the womans and a barefoot set around which the stench of rot seems stronger.The barefoot prints lead out off the mill across the loading dock and you can see that a second set of similar but muddy prints lead into the mill..whoever it was came from the river and returned to there. Beyond the river bank you lose the trail.
Inside The Sherrif first off all examines the sad and pitful remains of the woman..though her body is mangled her face remains almost miraculously untouched all be it on a head that is now detatched from her body..a look of terror on her face sets the scene even more starkly.
The sherrif purses his lips.."It's Katrin..the storekeepers daughter Elder sister of the cause of Romon's, and the rest of your, troubles."
Inakai remembers Katrin..a tall blonde busty girl with something of a reputation for being a heartbreaker
Muchorak will be sure to search both sides of the river to confirm if the suspect did in fact use just the river for means of transport. If he finds no other tracks on either side, he will look for markings along the bank (Mill side) to see if a small boat and been shored at all.
Hemlock moves to the man's body..his face impassive as a statue.."given the tattoo here" he says pointing to a faded raven tattooed across the man's abdomen "I would say this was Banny Harker..co-owner of the Mill"
He reaches up and pulls a parchment away from the corpse..a small scrap folded over and stuck to the corpse's flesh with a splinter of wood
"This is addressed to you Muchorak" he ecclaims, his calm for once seemingly disturbed.
Written in blood the note says...
“We have spoken of this before, my master. Now it begins. Join the Pack and it will end.”
It is signed simply "His Lordship"
"I know not of this 'Lordship' though he seems to know me." Looking to Inikai, "Do you know of this, or perhaps," looking to Marak as well now, "can magick an answer to explain it?"
Inikai almost asks Muchorak directly who has left this note. Then he thinks that there might be some things that Muchorak has kept to himself. The young binder reminds himself that he has his own secrets and is mindful not to probe.
"Some coward fears to face you directly, Muchorak. Instead he strikes at innocents. I fear we may bring harm to the people of Sandpoint with our presence. But we cannot leave to townsfolk on their own."
"The woman was the sister of Romon's accuser. Her name was Katrin. I did not know her beyond her name. This cannot be a coincidence. It could be that someone forced her sister to lie about Romon and when that was not enough he resorted to ...this."
Muchorak finds nothing on the opposite bank or any sign of a boat.
Is anyone examining the axe?
You can hear raised voices outside..
Muchorak will take another look at the scene searching for any clues, anything that would tie him to this place...he does not find comfort in this note being left for him nor does he like his name being tied to the death of innocents.
The handaxe is embedded in the floor near the log splitter, as if it had been dropped there. The handle is covered with bloody finger-marks too small to be a man's and a close examination of the head reveals two things of note.
Firstly, smears of what look like rotten flesh and fragments of bone are caked onto its blade, and second, the rotten meat stink is strong on it.
Muchorak gags at the stench but keeps his gorge down. Anyone else examining the axe needs to make a DC 13 fortitude save.
Inikai looks at the axe with great interest.
"Murder weapon maybe?" Naria asks seeing Inikai and Muchorak looking over the axe
"It smells of rot strongly," Muchorak stands, "The rot I cannot describe, i've not smelled anything like save for a bloated animal caught in a river."
"I can't tell if this is what was used but it does seem likely. Maybe the smell came from the wielder?"
Just to move things on...
Marak examines the axe and immediately begins to choke and retch at the smell..it takes him somee time to recover..when he does his first words are "I would surmise that this weapon was used to strike a member of the corporeal undead at some point last night"
Muchorak looks at Marak, "Corporeal Undead?" Clearly the term is unknown to him.
"A form of Undead with a physical body such as a zombie or Skeleton" Naria explains for Marak
Given Romon's reputation and the attitude of the crowd outside, the half-elf keeps himself quietly inconspicuous as he wanders the mill.
He spends a long time staring at the dead girl's head. What a shame. What a waste. The news that she is the temptress Shayliss' sister makes him strangely shy of her and he turns his gaze away and drifts over to the man's body.
"Some coward fears to face you directly, Muchorak. Instead he strikes at innocents. I fear we may bring harm to the people of Sandpoint with our presence. But we cannot leave to townsfolk on their own."
"The woman was the sister of Romon's accuser. Her name was Katrin. I did not know her beyond her name. This cannot be a coincidence. It could be that someone forced her sister to lie about Romon and when that was not enough he resorted to ...this."
"I'm not buying that, Inikai." Romons says quietly. "There's no angle. The whole town knew Muchorak and I were away in Magnimar. So it's not likely Muchorak could be framed for this."
"As for the girl Katrin, Shayliss was hotter than a succubus for me and she did what all girls do when caught like that by her father. She lied, or her father made her. But Marak's going to straighten that out. Katrin is a coincidence. Bad luck for her."
"This is all about the note; his Lordship wants something from Muchorak. Maybe it's a friend of the claw-handed b$@#%. She was sick enough to try something like this."
|
|
Marak examines the axe handle to get a 'feel' for the scent of the rotting meat, and then kneels down and attempts to sniff the muddy tracks, to see if there is a similar stench about them. He's hardly ideally suited for such matters, but he feels even less comfortable with the idea of asking the free-spirited gnomes to sniff around for the smell of death...
"Well have you annoyed any undead or maybe a Necromancer recently?" Naria suggests
"My homelands are not full of the unrestfull," Muchorak sighs, "We care for those that leave this place and protect their rights."
"Possibly a magic user capable of raising the dead then? Have you angered any mages recently?"
"Some coward fears to face you directly, Muchorak. Instead he strikes at innocents. I fear we may bring harm to the people of Sandpoint with our presence. But we cannot leave to townsfolk on their own."
"The woman was the sister of Romon's accuser. Her name was Katrin. I did not know her beyond her name. This cannot be a coincidence. It could be that someone forced her sister to lie about Romon and when that was not enough he resorted to ...this."
"I'm not buying that, Inikai." Romons says quietly. "There's no angle. The whole town knew Muchorak and I were away in Magnimar. So it's not likely Muchorak could be framed for this."
"As for the girl Katrin, Shayliss was hotter than a succubus for me and she did what all girls do when caught like that by her father. She lied, or her father made her. But Marak's going to straighten that out. Katrin is a coincidence. Bad luck for her."
"This is all about the note; his Lordship wants something from Muchorak. Maybe it's a friend of the claw-handed b!~~%. She was sick enough to try something like this."
"Whatever this is, it is beyond my ability to perceive a plan in it. There must be a foe we have not accounted for."
"I have no idea where to look."
"We don't have to look. Whoever it is will probably try again. They said so."
Romon turns to the Shoanti. "He also said he spoke to you before about joining 'the pack', Muchorak. How about it? Has anyone asked you to join anything, a benevolent guild, a gentlemen's club, a sewing circle?"
"I have been approached by no one in these lands, none but you all...and I know not of this gentlemens club? or sewing circle?" The Shoanti straightens, "I would hope you wouldn't think of me involved in such children's activities."
"Without an idea of who our foe is it only remains for us to wait for another attack. But I am sure that none of us want to simply wait for it."
"Perhaps the axe was used by the woman to defend herself from the murderer. The killer might have swum into the river or even still be there."
Romon laughs, "Trust me Muchorak, many gentlemen's clubs are very mature."
"Any dwellings or homes further down the river?" Naria asks the sheriff "Or anywhere someone could shelter for a few days?"
"If we scout the river how far do wish to scout it?" Muchorak looks at the others, "How far would we presume our suspect travelled, and do we travel such a distance to allow another attack to happen here?"
"Sandpoint's not much of a town, but it's big enough you can't defend it against another attack like this. Tracking the river is one of the best options you've got right now. The other one is just talking to people. Like Benny's partner. Didn't you say he was co-owner, Sheriff? Who's in business with him and did they have any employees?"
"I could search in the river waters themselves, but I would need some time by myself to prepare first."